[For Felicity, Feb 10] and they all said i was misled

[likeahero]

After his discussion with Barbara, Oliver spent the rest of his shift on autopilot, his mind running through their entire conversation over and over.

Green Arrow had seemed like such a ridiculous name, coming from Malcolm, but the fact that he actually goes by that name in Barbara's world bothers him. Everything about it bothers him, and though he's glad he knows, he hates that she suspected and knew all about him for however long before tonight. He hates that there are most likely others who know. He keeps replaying his meetings with various vigilantes over the months he's spent here, wondering if a certain reaction here or there meant they recognized some aspect of him -- if they suspected he was their Green Arrow.

The not knowing gnaws away at Oliver, and by the time his shift is done, he's more inclined to wrap his hand around his bow than make nice with Alexei or anyone else. He leaves Lush quickly, and heads home.

Usually when he gets back to the apartment, Oliver slips right into the Arrow and spends a few hours in the city. When he walks in and closes the door behind him this time, Oliver stands in the hall, still and listening for Felicity.

He isn't sure what to do. Barbara's words keep bouncing around in his head, and he doesn't know what to think anymore.

Comments

[one_more_question]

Felicity's brushing her teeth, pajamas on and hair in a hasty ponytail when she hears the sound of the front door signaling Oliver's return home. She can provide tech support for him just as easily in her pj's, and since she's based in their apartment now instead of the Foundry like back home, she figures she might as well be comfortable. When she doesn't see him pass by as she's rinsing to go suit up, Felicity wonders if he's taking the night off for some reason.

Teeth done, she plunks her toothbrush back in its holder and goes out to find him, a curious look on her face when she spots him just...standing there. "What's wrong?"

[likeahero]

Granted, being in Darrow has opened up Oliver's world to a whole host of bizarre and strange things, but this has to be the one thing that is a little more ridiculous than the rest. Everything else seems so separate, easy to distinguish as other.

This is him, in some strange way. Another version of him in another world somewhere, living a similar but divergent life.

"Barbara stopped by the club," he starts, voice low and measured. "She knows all about me. What I do. Because there's some...some version of me running around in her world."

[one_more_question]

"What?" Felicity exclaims, not even attempting to reign in her surprise at a statement that's pretty much out of left field - though it was, she supposes, the same for Oliver too, when Barbara first told him. Closing the distance between them, she grabs his hand and tugs him over to the couch to sit with her. "Okay, tell me exactly what happened. She knows some...other version of you? How does she know you?" There's a couple of obvious options she can think of for why Barbara knows all about the Oliver Queen in her world and how he spends his nights, and Felicity's not sure she's thrilled about either of them.

[likeahero]

That was the reaction Oliver had been expecting, and it's comforting, in a way. Felicity displays everything she feels, and he wants to be able to do the same, to react in disbelief, to throw his hands in the air and ask the universe what the hell it thinks its doing, but his arms are heavy at his sides and he lets Felicity tug him along.

When he sits, Oliver leans forward, elbows on his knees. "I'm some kind of superhero. The Green Arrow."

[one_more_question]

"Huh, well, I guess the Green part of the name makes sense," Felicity muses, still trying to process what Oliver's telling her. She's heard of the multiverse theory, of course, and nothing has ever provided better proof to support it than Darrow, but it's still a little freaky to think that there are untold versions of them out there, living their lives. "I mean, if this other version of you wears something similar, maybe...never mind, it's not important."

She reigns in her inclination to ask a million questions he probably doesn't know the answers to and just focuses on Oliver instead. "How are you doing? We've dealt with some weird things before, but nothing like this."

[likeahero]

It makes sense, but Oliver doesn't really like it, probably for a myriad of reasons, starting with Malcolm Merlyn. It's ridiculous, but he can't shake the association.

"I'm trying my best not to freak out." It's the best he can do, because trying to sort through everything he's feeling is difficult enough. "How many people are like Barbara and know who I am?"

How many of them do not have good intentions is the better question, but Oliver doesn't want to voice it yet.

[one_more_question]

It's an important thing to consider, given the people they've dealt with in their world and the implications that could have for what other versions of Oliver might have experienced. Did this other Oliver have a Digg and a Felicity too? And more importantly, did he have a Slade? A Count Vertigo? A Sebastian Blood? Felicity doesn't like to think about it, but she's sure Oliver has - the possibility that things are just different enough they won't recognize a threat if one does come to Darrow. Someone who has a grudge against the Oliver in their world, who doesn't care that he's not the same, only that his name is Oliver Queen.

"I wish I had a way to figure that out," she says, even as she's trying to come up with a way to figure it out. "I mean, I could start hacking people's e-mails and phone records, but they're not necessarily going to reveal anything. Have you noticed anyone else you've met acting...strange around you?"

[likeahero]

"Not recently," he says, already thinking back to every encounter he's had with anyone out of the ordinary, especially vigilantes. There had been one or two who'd almost said something, and thinking about it, one or two had mentioned the Green Arrow at one point, a phrase that hadn't meant much at the time. "Barbara's not the first to mention a Green Arrow. Arrowette knows, I think. And some other vigilante, I don't know what she calls herself."

The next time Oliver sees Arrowette is going to make for an interesting conversation, that's for sure.

[one_more_question]

"It's getting hard to keep all the vigilantes in this city straight," Felicity comments with a wry smile. She knows this is not something Oliver would have liked for Starling, masked people running around he can't control or at least monitor, but here he doesn't have as much say in that kind of thing. "So I guess that's something we have to be on the lookout for now. People who know you're the Arrow - or Green Arrow, or whatever some other version of you is calling yourself. People who know you as more than Oliver Queen." She thinks back on her own conversations with Barbara, but nothing's standing out as an indication that she knew about his masked identity.

[likeahero]

"I'll talk to Barbara again too," Oliver says. He dislikes the idea of monitoring people, dislikes even more that whatever shred of comfort he'd grown to enjoy here has been taken away so easily. "See if there's anyone else she knows of that might know anything about me, too."

[one_more_question]

"Good," Felicity says, nodding. "And you should talk to Arrowette, and that other vigilante, but you probably already thought of that. There sure are a lot of lady vigilantes in this city. Not that I'm complaining, go girl power. Is anyone here from Barbara's world, though? I didn't think there was anyone. Though she and I haven't had a whole lot of in depth conversations."

[likeahero]

"She wouldn't tell me, for good reason." He wouldn't have shared if their roles were reversed, and he can't blame Barbara for protecting people as much as Oliver hates not knowing who they are. "I'll just have to see if I can find out on my own."

[one_more_question]

"Yeah, I guess that makes sense, even if it's frustrating. You probably would have done the same in her position," Felicity replies. "Maybe you can do some digging. And I can check around too, see what I can learn with my methods."

[likeahero]

Oliver nods, appreciating that he doesn't have to ask for help. Felicity has proven herself his partner over and over again, but it still takes Oliver by surprise sometimes that she's so willing to do whatever it takes without question.

"Thank you," he says quietly. The whole thing is still discomfiting, but he doesn't feel so agitated as he had been when he first walked through the door.

[one_more_question]

Felicity leans over, closing what little space is between them to kiss Oliver's cheek. "Of course," she says, giving him a look that says it should be obvious. "You know I'll always do whatever I can for you." That's been true for a while now, since long before they started dating. Oliver is someone she believes in wholeheartedly.

[likeahero]

"I know," Oliver says, leaning in toward Felicity after the kiss. "I think I'm going to stay in tonight."

As much as he hates to admit it, Oliver is off-balance is enough that he's not sure he should go out -- or if he even wants to.

[one_more_question]

"A night off's probably a good idea," Felicity agrees. Oliver needs time to process this, and to take a second so he can be a little more prepared in case he runs into someone else who knows some version of him in a different universe. Besides, Felicity's not about to object to a night with her boyfriend. "We can make popcorn and watch something cheesy on TV. Or just...hang out."

[likeahero]

Oliver sighs, allowing himself to let go of a bit of the tension he's been holding onto for an hour. It won't go away entirely, but being with Felicity has a relaxing effect he appreciates more and more every day.

He sits back, tugging Felicity closer and curling his arm around her waist as he does. "What exactly does just hanging out involve?"

[one_more_question]

She goes with him easily, leaning against him and resting her arm along his leg. "I don't know," Felicity replies, but by the way she's smiling up at Oliver, maybe she does know a little. "Whatever we want it to involve, I guess. Watch a movie, play a board game.."

She brings her other hand around to rest against his stomach, biting her lower lip when she feels the firm muscles of his abdomen through his shirt. "Other things."

[likeahero]

Oliver pretends to give the question some thought as he slips his hand under the thin cotton of her shirt, fingers trailing up her spine.

"Do we even own a board game?"

[one_more_question]

There's a tingle that spreads up her back, following the path of his fingers, and Felicity turns a little more towards Oliver. "I don't think so, which is really a shame," she murmurs, leaning in to press a soft kiss against his jawline. "I totally would have kicked your ass at Monopoly. Or Clue."

[likeahero]

"You probably would have," Oliver agrees, "but that wouldn't say much. I'm the reining loser at Queen family Monopoly." It hadn't happened often, considering their lifestyle and his parents' busy lives when he and Thea were younger, but he does have a few good memories of his own terrible luck at any kind of board game.

He uses his arm to pull Felicity closer, wanting every bit of her as close to him as possible. Whatever's happened, he's happy to be right here with her.

[one_more_question]

"I guess when you're a billionaire you don't really have to worry about knowing how to budget," Felicity replies with a grin, so close now to Oliver that she's practically in his lap. She's definitely not complaining, not when this is exactly where she wants to be. "Was it just Monopoly you were bad at? Or board games in general?"

[likeahero]

"Board games in general. Mostly because it was usually me and Thea who cared, and she gets competitive." They're still some of his favorite memories, at least, and he wonders if Thea would be up for a little nostalgia. If it wouldn't be too painful.

[one_more_question]

"I'm already planning a board game night in my head," Felicity says. "Something you're actually not good at? Gotta make some use out of that one."

That's something she'll plan in detail later. Right now, she's a little preoccupied, the hand on his abdomen moving to slip beneath his shirt. "Maybe we can get something easy like Hi Ho Cherry-O, just so you've got at least a bit of a chance," she murmurs, sliding her palm along his stomach and up the center of his chest.

[likeahero]

Oliver inhales sharply at her touch and lets it out with a small laugh. He slips his hand higher up her shirt, glad for the looser material of her pajamas. "Can we agree that you cannot talk about childhood board games while feeling me up, Felicity?"

[one_more_question]

It gives Felicity a little thrill, knowing she can get that kind of reaction out of Oliver, especially considering what his touch does to her. She likes to know she's got the ability to give as good as she gets. "Why, is it distracting you from the conversation?" she says with mock innocence as she shifts, moving to straddle his lap. "Because that might have been kind of the idea."

[likeahero]

"Distracting is definitely one word for it," Oliver agrees, a smile on his face as he slides his hands over Felicity's hips. "You always have the best ideas."

[one_more_question]

"This is true," Felicity replies, grinning playfully, her hands sliding over his shoulders and up the sides of his neck. "Like right now, I think kissing you would be a pretty excellent idea." And she does, leaning forward and against Oliver to press her lips to his.